We're in this together
by BigSmile1983
Summary: Emma moves back with her family and finds out that Rikki and Cleo became friends with Bella while she was away. Emma thinks they replaced her. Rikki decides to start working at the café again and someone is watching every move the girls make. Soon they all find out that they have to put their hands together to fight agains an old enemy. Will Emma and Bella trust each other?
1. Emma returns

**Here is a new H2o story I've come up with. Most of the story will be from Rikki's pov but maybe it will also be from time to time from someone else's pov:)**

Chapter 1: Emma returns

pov Rikki

Slowly I opened my eyes and tried to look around to see where I was but everything started to spin, so I closed them quickly to make it stop. My head hurt really bad and I felt something warm soaking into my neck. My stomach started to twist and turn by the idea of what that could be. I tried to turn to my right side, which was difficult with my arms and feet tied, but I managed somehow. I opened my eyes for the second time and this time everything didn't spin. I felt relieved about that but then I heard a soft groan somewhere in the room. Chills ran up my spine and I tried to look around to see where it came from. Then I saw, not far from where I was laying, three other people laying in the same position as I was before. It didn't take long for me to realize those people were my best friends and that they were still unconscious. and then I felt something else, a feeling I haven't felt before because normally I'm really relaxed and everything. But now I felt panicked and thoughts ran through my head. Where were we and what happened to us?

* * *

Two weeks earlier

I walked into the café to start my shift for the day. I still couldn't believe that I said yes to Zane's offer to manage the café again. What was I thinking? Why did I say yes and was this a good idea at all?

A sudden noise interrupted my thoughts and I looked around to see what it was. It was still closed, so what could it be? Then I realized it came from the office and I walked towards it to let Zane know I was planning to open the café.

Right when I was about to grab the doorknob it swung open and an angry looking Sophie came out of the office.

"You will be sorry for this" she yelled before noticing me.

She gave me one mean and angry look before she left the café in a hurry.

"What was that all about?" I asked walking into the office.

"Not much" Zane said, grabbing some bills from his desk drawer. "Just told her you get her job and that she's a waitress again."

* * *

Cleo walked down the stairs to the kitchen and noticed it was really quite in the house. 'Dad and Sam must have gone to work already and Kim is probably at a friend's house Cleo thought and started to sigh with relief that she had the house for herself. She didn't really want to spend the day with Kim.

Cleo grabbed the juice from the fridge and poured some into a glass when a sudden knock on the door scared her and she spilled some of it on her hand.

Quickly she grabbed a towel from the bench and dried off her arm right in time.

Then she walked up to the hallway hearing a second, but firmer knock on the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming" she said and opened the door.

"Surprise!" a blond girl said and before Cleo could realize what was happening the girl hugged her. "I'm so happy to be back."

"Emma, you're back!" Cleo screamed happily and hugged her friend back. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?

"I wanted to surprise you and Rikki, by the way, where is she?

"She's probably at the café. We can go there so you can surprise her, but first I have to put some clothes on," Cleo said smiling and taking a step back so Emma could come in the house.

* * *

Slowly Bella swam through the water towards Mako, while looking at some colourful fishes swimming past her, she smiled. She always enjoyed swimming through the colourful reeves, looking at the little fishes and other small sea animals.

Suddenly something grabbed her tail from behind and she turned around to see what it was. She looked into the smiling face of her boyfriend and she smiled back in relief. Then she pointed to Mako and started to swim towards it while Will followed her.

A few minutes later they both entered the moon pool and surfaced above water. Bella placed both arms on the poolside while resting her head on them. Will pulled himself up on the side and sat on it while looking at his girlfriend who seemed to be thinking about something.

"What's wrong? I didn't scare you that much, did I?" Will asked with a concerned look.

"No, it's not that" Bella said opening her eyes to look up at him. "Now that school is over I'm not really sure what I want to do now."

"Well, you have some great marks, so you have a lot of options" Will said with a proud smile.

"Yeah, I know, but that's just the problem. I don't know in which option has my interest. "What do you think I should do?"

"First, stop worrying. Second, have some fun with me. I'm sure you will find a study you like and I will help you with that" Will said and bent a bit over to Bella. "But right now I have a little surprise for you" he continued with a teasing sparkle in his eyes.

"Really?" Bella asked and smiled back. "What is it?"

"You just have to wait and see" Will said and kissed her.

* * *

"What happened to the Juice Net?" Emma asked when she and Cleo walked towards the café.

"Wilfred sold it about a year ago to Mr Bennett and he gave it to Zane," Cleo said as they walked through the coloured streams into the café. "Now the place is run by Zane and Rikki."

"Really? I didn't know Rikki liked selling juices and smoothies" Emma said laughing.

"I know what you mean," Cleo said laughing and thought about the day she asked Emma if Rikki could work in the Juice Net for a few days until Wilfred got back. "But Rikki has really changed. She likes working at the café even if she doesn't admit it."

"Emma, you're back!" Zane said and walked towards the girls. "Rikki didn't tell me you were back in town."

"That's because she doesn't know it" Emma said. "It's kind of a surprise."

"Well, I'm sure she will be happy to see you" Zane said while cleaning off a table. "She's in the office, you can go to her if you like."

"Thanks, Zane" Cleo said and they both started walking towards the office.

"You know what?" Emma whispers. "I didn't see Zane as the working type either. It really looks strange to see him cleaning tables" she continues and starts smiling. "What else has changed?"

pov Rikki

I was sitting in the office looking through some paperwork when I heard a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in" I said but kept looking at the papers.

"Hi, Rikki" Cleo said and I noticed a mysterious tone in her voice, like she always has if she's up to something.

"Not now, Cleo" I said a bit frustrated because I couldn't find the bill for the fruit delivery. "I have it a bit busy right now."

"I have a surprise for you" Cleo said, still mysterious.

"Okay, what is it?" I said, looking up, realizing she wouldn't go away otherwise.

"I'm back" someone said and came out from behind Cleo.

"Emma! I yelled soon as I recognized the person, standing up and walking towards her and holding out my hand. "When did you get back in town?"

"Yesterday evening" Emma said and looked at my hand. "Come here" She said smiling, grabbing my arm and squeezing me into a friendly hug.

'Really' I thought. 'They know I'm not the hugging type.' I looked over her shoulder and saw a big grinning Cleo standing behind her, jumping up and down in excitement.

Quickly I released myself from Emma's hug and walked towards the couch and sat on it.

"Come sit and tell us all about your traveling" I said.

* * *

"Are you ready for your surprise?" Will asked and slid back into the pool and swam towards the entrance while looking playfully over his shoulder.

Bella pushed herself back in the water and followed her boyfriend who dove underwater at the same time. Bella also dove underwater and swam right after Will back to the shore of Mako Island.

Will walked out of the water on to the beach while Bella pushed herself up behind some rocks on to the sand. She waited there until Will came back with a towel so she could dry herself off.

"Close your eyes" Will said as soon as she came out from behind the rocks.

Bella closed her eyes while Will lead her down the beach by holding her hands gently in his.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked with a giggle.

"Here it is" Will said and stood still. "You can open your eyes now" Will said and slowly she opened her eyes.

"Oh Will, you shouldn't have done that!" she said as soon as she saw the blanket spread on the sand and the filled picnic basket next to it. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing. I just want to spend some time with my girlfriend" Will said, holding her hands while she kneeled down on the blanket.

"That's so sweet of you. I didn't know you were the romantic type."

"There's more behind this boy then you can ever imagine" Will said and sat next to her.

"And that's what I love so much about you" Bella said, sliding closer to Will and kissing him gently on his lips.

What they didn't know was that, soon as they came out of the water, a mysterious person was looking at them from behind some bushes.

* * *

**So, what do you think, like it so far? Please review:D**


	2. Feeling replaced

**Thank you so much for the lovely reviews for the first chapter, hope there weren't too much grammar mistakes. I send this chap to a friend who correct all the grammar and after that I also ran it a few times through the spelling/grammar system of my writing program, so I hope this chapter doesn't contain many grammar mistakes:) Anyway, enjoy reading this chapter:D**

* * *

Chapter 2: Feeling replaced

Emma went to her room to unpack her bags, giving all the souvenirs she bought in different country's during traveling, a place on her shelves. She'd really enjoyed traveling with her family the past months, but she also had missed her friends and swimming with them during those months away. She was really happy to be back and it felt good that she finally could spend time with them again.

The past few hours talking with them had been good, but she did somehow, get the feeling they were keeping something from her. Emma couldn't put her finger on it what it could be, so she tried to forget it. Maybe it was just a silly feeling, nothing more.

Emma grabbed the empty suitcase and put it away in the back of her closet. After putting her clothes and other belongings away she felt an urgent need for a swim. She really wanted to see Mako Island and the Moon pool again. Emma grabbed her swimming stuff and went downstairs.

"I'm going to the beach for a swim!" Emma yelled at her mother who was in the kitchen starting dinner.

"That's okay, sweetheart" Mrs. Gilbert said chopping some unions. "Don't make it too long, dinner will be ready in half an hour or so."

"Sure, mum. No problem!" Emma said, opening the door and heading outside.

After a short walk Emma reached the beach and went towards the so called 'secret fishing spot.' She put the clothes that she wore over her swimsuit in it.  
Then she looked carefully around to check if there was anyone else before she went in the water.

Slowly Emma swum towards Mako, looking around, taking everything in. The colourful reeves, the colourful fish, the dolphins. She had missed this all so much.

A few dolphins swum towards her and Emma started to smile. It was like they were happy to see her again too. That they have missed her too. But that's silly of course, she thought and moved over to the frolicking dolphin's.  
Carefully she took one of the dolphin's back fin and swum with him through the water.

She really enjoyed doing this until something else drew her attention. Quickly she let the dolphin go and swum towards some rocks to hide behind. Not far from her hiding spot she saw another mermaid with long blond hair. Relax, it's just Rikki, she thought.  
She was just about to swim away from her hiding spot when she noticed a tall guy swimming, from behind some rocks, towards the girl. Quickly Emma ducked behind the rocks again, hoping the guy hadn't seen her.  
After a few minutes Emma found some courage to look again. She didn't see they guy nor the girl, turned around and swum back to the beach.

* * *

pov Rikki

"I'm really happy Emma is back" Cleo said to me, sitting at a table enjoying my 15 minute break.

"Yeah, me too" I said taking a bite from my sandwich

"We haven't told her yet about Bella. Do you think she will like her?" Cleo asked looking a bit worried.

"Sure she will" I said. "You know Emma. She wants to be friends with everyone."

"Perhaps" Cleo said but not really convinced about it.

"Look..." I started. "She probably made heaps of friends during her traveling. I'm sure she won't mind if we made some too."

"Maybe you're right" Cleo started but got interrupted by a beep from her phone. She took it from her pocket and read the text message she'd received.

"It's from Emma" she started. "She wants to meet us at my place. She says it's urgent."

"What could be so urgent?" I asked with a confused look and took my empty plate and cup to the café kitchen.

"I don't know" Cleo replied following me.

"Well, my break is almost over" I said looking at my watch. "But I will let Zane know so he can take over my shift for a while."

* * *

"Thank you so much for the picnic" Bella said and gave Will a kiss on his cheek. "I really enjoyed it."

"No problem, I really enjoy spending time with you too" Will said and gave his girlfriend a smile. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I think I'll go to the café to meet Rikki and Cleo. I'll go bragging about you, telling them about how romantic you really are" Bella said giggling and looked cheeky "You don't mind that, do you?"

"No, I don't mind at all" Will said smiling and gave her a kiss. "I'd better head home then. Still have to do some things."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah. Let's meet at the café then" Will said walking backwards away from her.

"Sure, bye" Bella said and waved.

Quickly Will walked back to her and gave her one more kiss and smiled at her before he turned around and ran towards his boatshed.

* * *

Will went inside the boatshed a noticed an angry looking Sophie, sitting on the couch.

"What's wrong? Why are you here?" Will asked his sister walking towards her.

"Well, I came here because I needed a talk. But of course you weren't here. I should have known that you were off somewhere with Bella" Sophie said and looked up at her brother. He could see that she had been crying.

"Well, I'm home now. You still want to talk?" Will asked and sat down next to her.

"Zane fired me today. I'm no longer manager of the café. I'm a waitress again" Sophie said sobbing.

"Why did he do that for?" Will asked and gave her a tissue.

"Because his ex-girlfriend got the job again" Sophie said with an angry look on her face. " I really thought he started to care for me. That he was starting to like me. Especially after all the time we spent together, she stood up and started pacing up and down the room. "And now he's doing this".

"Wait" Will started, looking at his sister who still kept pacing around the room. "Rikki is working as manager again?"

"Of course she is. I'll bet she just did that to get to me" Sophie said and stood still thinking about something.

"I'm sure that's not true," Will started but got interrupted by Sophie.

"Of course she did!" Sophie yelled turning around to face her brother. "But you know what!? I will get her back for that, you'll wait and see!"

"Sophie, isn't that a bit..."

"No, it isn't!" Sophie turned around and walked towards the door and swung it open. "She will be sorry for this!" Sophie walked through the door and slammed it hard behind her, leaving her brother sitting alone on the couch, stunned and worried about what Sophie just had said.

* * *

pov Rikki

Cleo and I walked up the driveway towards the front door.

"Looks like Emma isn't here yet" I said looking around while Cleo opened the door.

"Yeah, or Sam and dad came home and let her in" Cleo said walking into the hallway and I followed her closing the door behind me.

"You're home" Sam said coming out the kitchen holding two cups. "You have a visitor, she's waiting in your room".

"Okay, thanks" Cleo replied and we walked up to her room where Emma was waiting for us.

"Hey, Em. What's so important?" Cleo asked, walking towards her bed and sat next to Emma on it while I closed the door behind me and kept leaning against it.

"Well, it looks like we have some trouble" Emma said looking from Cleo to me.

"Really? What is it?" Cleo asked with panicked look on her face.

"While I was swimming this afternoon I saw another mermaid" Emma said and didn't noticed the look Cleo gave me. "At first I thought it was you Rikki, but then I noticed a guy swimming towards her. Did you two know there is another mermaid?" Emma asked looking up and noticed that I tried to keep from bursting into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Emma asked looking confused at Cleo who looked at me, wanting me to explain who this mysterious mermaid was.

"Don't worry, that's just Bella. And the guy with her is her boyfriend Will" I said and started walking across the room to Cleo's desk, grabbing the chair away from it and sitting down.

"Just Bella?" Emma asked, turning round on the bed so she faced me. "Who's Bella?"

"We met her while you were away" Cleo said trying to avoid Emma's look. "just before school started. We met her in the café, found out she was a mermaid since she was nine years old. And we became friends after a while".

"So you guys just replaced me for another mermaid?" Emma said a bit hurt and Cleo looked away guiltily.

"You know that isn't true" I said, looking straight to Emma.

"Well, it does feel like it" Emma said looking back with teary eyes. "Neither of you told me when I called, or during a video chat".

"Well, you probably met a lot of people during traveling and made some friends too that we don't know anything about" I said standing up and walked towards the bed.

"No, I didn't" Emma said, tears falling down. "I could only think about my two best friends, whom I really missed".

Emma turned around again, stood up from the bed walking towards the door and opened it.

"Emma, wait" Cleo tried but Emma didn't listen and left the room.

* * *

Emma cried all the way back to her house, she couldn't believe that her friends replaced her, just like that.

"Hey, sweetheart, you missed dinner" Mrs Gilbert said when she heard Emma coming into the house. "I kept something warm for you".

"I'm not hungry" Emma replied and went straight up to her room.

"Is everything alright?" Mrs Gilbert asked following her daughter to her room but Emma closed the door before her mum could come in. "Do you want me to bring your dinner upstairs?"

"No, mum, I'm fine, I'm just really tired and I want to go to sleep early."

"Okay, if you need anything, just let me know" Mrs, Gilbert said and went downstairs again.

Emma listened until she didn't hear her mother's footsteps anymore and walked towards her bed and sat on it. Slowly she placed her head on one of her pillows and started to cry. All these months she was looking forward to going back home because she missed doing things with her friends, like chatting about boys, shopping, swimming, hanging around at Mako. But now they replaced me, Emma thought and rubbed a few tears away with the back of her hand.

* * *

**Well, this was chapter 2, let me know what you think, feedback is always welcome:) Please review:D**


	3. Rivalry - Part 1

**Hey guys, sorry for the delay, but here is the next chapter:)**

* * *

Chapter 3: Rivalry

"It really feels like they replaced me" Emma said to her boyfriend Ash, who was about to saddle up his horse Rebel.

"I'm pretty sure they didn't" Ash replied placing the saddle in his place. "I mean, you made some friends during traveling too right?" he asked turning around to face his girlfriend.

"Yeah, but none of them were mermaids. I don't understand why they let her in without asking me first," Emma said, turning around, away from Ash so he couldn't see she was about to cry.

"They didn't tell you anything?" Ash asked with a confused look.

"Well, they told me in an email they made a new friend, but they left out the mermaid part and I don't know why. I thought they would be a bit more honest with me, especially after what happened with Charlotte" Emma said angrily, removing a few tears that were about to fall along her cheeks.

"Emma" Ash started and walked around her to face her again. "I'm sure this girl is not like Charlotte at all. Otherwise Cleo and Rikki wouldn't have become friends with her."

Ash placed his hand under her chin to lift her head and removed with one of his fingers a tear from under one of her eyes. _It always amaze me tears don't turn her into a mermaid_ he thought.

"You think?" Emma asked and placed her head on his chest while Ash placing his arms around her.

"I'm sure" Ash said smiling. "Probably they didn't tell you about her being a mermaid because they weren't sure if she would like you to know. And maybe they didn't tell her about you either."

Emma lifted her head a bit up and looked at his face. "I think you're right" Emma said rubbing tears away with the palm of her hand. "It always feels good to talk to you" Emma said smiling and snuggled her head a bit more against his chest.

* * *

Pov Rikki

"So, how does it feel being manager again?" Cleo asked me while I was sitting behind the desk running through some bills that had to be paid.

"I don't know" I said looking up. "And I'm also not sure if I'm doing the right thing."

"Why not?" Cleo asked looking confused at her friend.

"Well... I'm worried about Zane's hidden agenda. Why did he give me back the job?"

"You think he maybe did that because he wants you back?" Cleo asked, standing up from the couch and walking towards me.

"Well... he admitted he still has feelings for me" I said placing my arms on the desk.

"Do you... still have... feelings for him?" Cleo asked carefully trying to avoid my eyes by looking to the floor.

"No" I said, maybe a bit too fast and thought about her question. Of course I loved him, we had some great times together. A bit up and down but we always managed to get past that. He kissed Miriam once, but that was only to get the locket that she had bought because she knew I liked it. She told him she would give it to him after he kissed her. But of course she lied and threw the locket in the water. I managed to forgive him that mistake because he proved his love for me by diving in the water to get it back. Of course I didn't know that Emma was already in the water to get it back, so there was a chance he would have seen her. But he didn't.  
Now he did the same mistake again by kissing Sophie. The lies he told after that, the excuses he made up, I'm not sure if I can get past that like I did back then with Miriam.  
_It's all so confusing_ I thought frustrated and placed my head into my arms that were still lying on the desk.

"Are you alright?" Cleo asked me and I groaned as answer. "Do you feel like to take a swim?"

"Yes, that would be great" I said and lifted my head up a bit. "This book keeping is a bit stressful as well."

I grabbed all the bills together and placed them back in the desk drawer. "I will try to take a look at them later" I said and stood up from behind the desk when suddenly someone knocked on to the office door. "Yes" I replied.

"Hey, it's just me" Sophie said as she opened the door and walked in. "Just wanted to let you know I'm here to start my shift of the day."

"Thanks, Sophie, for letting me know" I answered and walked towards the door and Cleo followed me. "I was just about to take a break."

"That's fine" Sophie replied walking out the office into the crowded café. "I also wanted to let you know, no hard feelings about Zane giving you back the job" Sophie said smiling. "Maybe it's for the best."

"Yeah... Maybe" I said and looked confused at Sophie, not sure if she meant what she just said. Especially after what she yelled at Zane the other day. Cleo gave me one of her confused looks.

"I know I got a bit carried away just the other day. Saying all those bad things to Zane, but it's fine now" Sophie said smiling sweetly. "I think I'm not good at managing after all."

"Okay" I said, still really confused, not knowing what to say or think which doesn't happen much.

"I'd better get to work" Sophie said, "Enjoy your break."

"Thanks'" I said and walked towards the door and went outside followed by Cleo.

_Don't you worry, Rikki, soon the café will be mine again. As well as Zane,_ Sophie thought and her smile was replaced by an angry look. _ You__'__ll wait and see. _

* * *

"What was that all about?" Cleo asked while we walked down the beach towards our hiding spot where we could enter the water without other people seeing us.

"I have no idea" I said. "I'm as confused about all this as you."

"Anyway" Cleo said as we arrived at the hiding spot. "Maybe we can text Bella and Emma to come too. Then they can properly meet."

"Sounds like a good idea" I said and grabbed my phone out my pocket and text to Emma and Bella to meet us at Mako. I putted my phone with all our other stuff behind a rock.

"Let's race to see who's first in the cave" Cleo yelled and ran towards to the water.

"Not fair" I said in argument. "You have a head start now."

"Yeah, I know" Cleo giggled and dove under water. I ran also into the cool water and dove under as soon as I felt the tinkling feeling in my toes. I noticed Cleo was already far in advance of me so I sped fast after her and soon I caught up.

Cleo noticed me and tried to swim faster but I did the same and a few minutes later I swum through the cave entrance and surfaced. "I won" I laughed loudly as soon as Cleo had surfaced as well.

"You cut me off" Cleo said laughing.

"I did not" I said in defence but kept laughing and noticed Bella was also in the pool. "Hey" I said as soon as I noticed her. "How long have you been here?'

"A while" Bella replied turning and facing me, smiling. "I Really enjoyed the peace and quiet."

"Well, then we will go" I said and tried to keep my face straight as possible. Faking she just hurt our feelings.

"Yeah" Cleo said, and looked with a sad face at Bella.

Bella started to look confused, not knowing what to say. "I was..." Bella started but then Cleo and I couldn't keep our face straight and started to laugh.

"You are always so easy to fool" I said laughing and Bella splashed some water into our faces.

Suddenly we heard a splashy noise behind us and saw Emma surface in the pool.

"Hey, Em, great you could come" Cleo said and moved a bit to the side of the pool so Emma could join us.

"Yeah, still got to unpack a lot at home" Emma replied and noticed Bella was with us too. "So, I better get back to it" she continued looking annoyed to Bella.

"Hey, I'm Bella" she said smiling and held her hand out to Emma, who didn't take it. Bella pulled her hand back looking confused at us and we just shrugged our shoulders.  
"Cleo and Rikki told me a lot about you" Bella said, trying to make friends. "But they didn't tell me you were a mermaid as well."

"Yeah, well, there are a lot of things they don't tell" Emma snapped at her and looked back at us, biting her lower lip in annoyance. "Like for example, they didn't tell me you would be here as well."

"We wanted you to meet each other properly" Cleo said.

"Well, I'm not really in the mood" Emma said turning around facing the entrance. "I'll go home."

"Em, wait" I started but Emma dove under water and swum through the entrance.

"I'll go after her" I said, diving under water as well and swum fast after Emma, trying to catch up, which was still really hard, because she was the fastest swimmer of the both of us. But it didn't matter. I knew I would catch her at the beach because she had to wait a while until her tail dried off and turned back to legs.

A few minutes later I surfaced and pulled myself up at the beach and flipped myself over on my back and used my heath power to dry my tail. Soon as my legs appeared I stood up and walked towards Emma who was still busy drying herself with a towel.

"Need a hand?" I asked and stood still next to her and leaned against a rock.

"No, I can handle myself" Emma said angry, rubbing the towel over her tail in annoyance. "Why did you come after me? You know I don't want to talk."

"Why did you behave like that?" I asked avoiding her question. "Bella tried to be nice to you."

"Don't you get it?" Emma said standing up as soon as her tail was gone and started walking down the beach towards the café. Quickly I stood up straight and walked after her. "When my parents told me we were going back home I was so glad and couldn't wait to see you guys again" Emma said, still walking, moving her arms stern down by her sides. "But the first day I'm back I find out you two replaced me by this Bella girl!"

"We already told you we didn't replace you" I said getting a bit annoyed as well.

"Really?" Emma said, and turned suddenly to face me. "What about our lockets? Do you really think I didn't notice you and Cleo weren't wearing them anymore?"

"We still have them. We didn't know it would upset you that much if we didn't wear them" I said.

"Of course you didn't" Emma said angrily and started walking again towards the café. "This is going to be like the 'Charlotte problem' all over again."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked as we walked into the café.

"You know what I mean!"

"No, I don't" I said trying to grab her elbow to stop her.

"Leave me alone!" Emma yelled angrily and walked into the restroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Is everything okay?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, fine" I said and walked away from her towards the café entrance because I saw Cleo and Bella had just walked in. "Let's sit here" I said to them pointing at one of the tables.

Soon as we sat down Cleo fired some questions at me. "Is everything okay with Emma? Where is she? Did you talk with her?"

"Slow down, Cleo" I said, still annoyed about Emma's behaviour. "She locked herself up in the bathroom and refuses to talk."

"Is it me she's angry about?" Bella asked concerned.

"She thinks we replaced her with you" I explained to Bella.

"Why does she think that?" Bella asked now confused.

"I don't know."

"Hey you two" a familiar voice said and Cleo looked up to see who it was.

"Ash!" she said as soon as she recognized him. "Are you back too?" Cleo stood up and gave him a hug.

"Hey, Ash" I said, just waving at him. "This is Bella," I said pointing at her.

"Well, really nice to meet you Bella. I'm Ash" he held out his hand to Bella and she shook it.

"Nice to meet you too" she said smiling.

* * *

After a while, sitting alone in the bathroom crying, Emma thought it might be better if she headed home so she could help her mum finish unpacking. Emma dried her tears with the back of her hand and stood up from the floor. She straightened her clothes and walked towards the door. She was just about to open it when she heard a familiar laughter.

_Oh, no, Ash. He cannot see that I've __been crying__,_ Emma thought and rubbed through her eyes to make sure all her tears were gone. Emma took a deep breath and opened the door and stepped into the café, looking around to see if she could see Ash.  
She saw him sitting at one of the tables together with Rikki and Cleo. She was just about to walk towards them when she noticed that Bella was with them too and she was laughing at something Ash just said. _How dare she? _Emma thought angrily. _Flirting with my boyfriend._  
Emma took a deep breath and walked sternly towards the table.

"Hey sweetie. There you are" Ash said soon as he notices her. "Is everything alright?"

"No, it's not" Emma said angrily and looked from her boyfriend to Bella. "How dare you!"

"Sorry?" Bella asked confused.

"Not only do you steal my two best friends, but now you also try to steal my boyfriend!" Emma yelled angry.

"I was not..." Bella tried but Emma interrupted her.

"I don't care what you have to say" Emma said, turned around and walked out of the café.

"I'd better go after her" Ash said. "It was nice to meet you, Bella." Ash stood up and ran quickly out of the café after his girlfriend.

* * *

Bella walked towards Will's boatshed. _I hope he's home and not out swimming or something_ Bella thought and knocked at the door.

"Come in" Will answers and Bella opened the door and walked into the room. "Hey, good to see you" Will said smiling, walked towards her and gave her a kiss on her cheeck.

"Is everything alright?" Will asked when he saw the sad look on her face.

"No" Bella replied, walking towards the couch and sat down.

"What is it?" Will asked concerned and sat down next to her.

Bella didn't reply, just kept looking down.

"Just tell me Bella" Will said, getting more concerned.

"I've met Emma today" Bella said, but didn't look up. "And I don't really know what to think of her."

"Where did you meet her?"

"In the moon pool" Bella replied and looked up and Will noticed a few tears in her eyes. "She swum inside."

"What do you mean? Swum inside?" Will asked looking a bit confused and frightened at the same time.

"She's a mermaid too" Bella explained. "I noticed she didn't like that I was there as well, but I still tried to be nice to her but she just snapped at me and left a few minutes later. She was really angry. Rikki went after her and then she locked herself up in the café bathroom. I really don't know what I did wrong to upset her that much."

"I just think she doesn't like to see that you became friends with Rikki and Cleo while she was traveling."

"I know" Bella said, rubbing a few tears away. "But she doesn't have to be that mean to me. She thinks I stole them and later she accused me that I flirted with her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Will asked confused.

"Yeah, he came into the café a few minutes after Cleo and me. Rikki introduced me to him and we were just talking with each other when Emma came out the restroom. She started to yell at me and then left the café. She really hates me" Bella said and burst into tears.

"Don't cry" Will said and placed one of his arms around her shoulders and moved closer to her so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

* * *

Emma was sitting on the couch, crying and flipping through an old album with pictures of her and her friends. _I still can't believe they don't wear them anymore_ Emma thought when she came upon a picture where they all three wore a locket that was exactly the same except that each locket had a different gem color. Once they were from Mrs Chatham and her friends, it was a symbol of their friendship and after she gave hers to Emma it was the same for her, Cleo and Rikki. _And now they don't wear it anymore_.

Emma rubbed a few tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand when suddenly someone knocked on the front door. At first she ignored it, but when the person knocked for a second time she placed the album on the coffee table stood up from the couch, and walked towards the door and opens it.

_Great, just what I need_ Emma thought when she saw who was standing there looking back at her smiling.

* * *

**Well, what do you think? Please review if you like to read the next chapter:D**


	4. Rivalry - Part 2

**Hey everyone, thank you so much for your reviews, they mean a lot:DD Here is the next chapter:))**

* * *

Emma couldn't believe her eyes the moment she opened the front door. Byron stood on the doorstep smiling at her and all she could do was stare back at him.

"Don't you recognize me anymore?" Byron asked and his smile got replaced by a confused look. "It's me, Byron."

"Yeah, sorry," Emma said still a bit shocked but tried to smile. "Good to see you." Emma took a step towards Byron and gave him a friendly hug. "It's just that so much is going on right now," Emma said, stepping back to let Byron in.

"If you have it too busy, I can come back later" Byron said going to turn around.

"No, it's not that. I'm happy you're here," Emma said and smiled. "Please come in."

Emma walked towards the living room while Byron followed her. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine," Byron replied and sat down in one of the armchairs while Emma sat down into the couch opposite of Byron.

"So, how was your exchange study?" Emma asked.

"Good," Byron replied. "It was tough and hard being away from friends and family but it was also a big experience, if you know what I mean" Byron said smiling.

"Yeah. I know what you mean." Emma replied and smiled back. "I went a year traveling with my family. I really missed Rikki and Cleo while I was away".

Emma sighed and looked at the ground trying to avoid Byron's look.

"Is everything okay?" Byron asked, looking confused.

"It's nothing. I'm fine" Emma replied and tried to smile.

"I can see you're not fine, Emma" Byron said moving forward into the chair and grabbing my hands holding them gently into his. "You can tell me."

Emma couldn't help herself and started to cry. "They replaced me."

"What do you mean?" Byron asked with a questioning look.

"I came back home from traveling and noticed that Rikki and Cleo made a new friend without telling me anything. So it feels like they replaced me."

"Emma, I'm sure Rikki and Cleo wouldn't do that to you. Just because they made new friends doesn't mean they don't want to be yours anymore."

"Yeah, maybe your right" Emma said, rubbing a few tears away.

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming towards the living room and Emma quickly pulled her hands out of Byron's.

"Emma, are you here?" they heard someone saying and looked up to see who it was.

"The door was open so..." Ash said as soon as he was in the living room and stood still. Looking confused at Emma. "Is everything alright?" Ash asked as he noticed Emma had been crying and looked questioningly to Byron.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Emma replied, stood up and walked towards Ash.

"Ash, this is Byron" Emma said pointing at Byron who stood up out the chair. "Byron, this is Ash".

Byron took a step towards Ash holding his hand out. "Nice to meet you Ash".

"Nice to meet you too" Ash said and shook Byron's hand.

* * *

A few days later Emma still couldn't force herself to meet the girls even with Ash doing his best to convince her to do so. She was just too scared Cleo and Rikki would be angry at her for her behavior towards Bella. On the other hand she also wasn't really in the mood to meet Bella again so she practically avoided swimming too, which was really hard because she always loved to take a morning swim at the beach when no one was around.

Emma sighed while putting the rest of the boxes away when suddenly something fell out of it onto the floor. '_What's that__?'_ she thought and picked it up, noticing it was a small book. Suddenly she remembered she found it in one of the caves in Ireland when she was there with her family. _I forgot I had that,_ Emma thought and sat down on her bed while flipping through the pages. She noticed it was filled with writing. _Maybe it's a diary. Probably from a little child __judging__ from the handwriting._ Most of the time Emma didn't read someone else's diary but somehow she got a bit curious.

_**Dear Diary**_

_**Today I moved with my mommy and daddy to Ireland which I really didn't like because I had to leave all my friends behind. I asked my mom why we move a lot all the time and she told me that **__**it**__** was because my dad is in hotel management, whatever that means. My parent's **__**bought a **__**small cottages near the coast which was nice, I think.**_

_**After a few hours of unpacking my stuff I got bored and went downstairs where Samantha, my nanny told me that my parents where away for a few hours and because she was busy I had to play outside by myself. I really liked that because that meant I could go out exploring which was the only thing I liked to do when we moved to a new place.**_

_**I started to run through the fields which were covered with beautiful purple flowers that smelled so nice. I sat down **__**in**__** the grass and started to pick some flowers to make a **__**necklace**__**. Suddenly I heard the sound of waves crashing onto rocks and noticed I was really near the ocean. I stood up and walked towards the ocean, stepping really carefully from rock to rock. I got caught in the exploring and didn't notice it was getting dark.**_

_**I kept walking until I was at the bottom of the cliffs and my attention got drawn to a small hole between some rocks. I walked towards it and even **__**though**__** I was really careful I slipped on to the wet rocks and fell right into the hole. My leg and knees hurt a bit but I managed to stand up and I noticed I was in a cave. For some reason I didn't feel scared at all, more a bit curious because I could hear a distant sound of running water. I walked through the dark cave towards the sound. While walking I held my left hand on the wall, feeling which way I had to go and **__**kept**__** myself from tripping because I couldn't see a thing at all. After a few minutes I came in a different cave with a large round pool **__**of **__**water in the **__**center**__** of it and I noticed it was **__**attached**__** to the ocean like a small cove. While looking **__**at**__** the beautiful clear blue water of the pool I wanted to swim in it and carefully I stepped onto a lower step into the cool water. I felt my socks getting soaked, but I didn't care and I jumped in. **__**It was pretty deep but I was a strong swimmer and **__**swam**__** back to the surface. **_

_**Suddenly I noticed that the water around me started to bubble, but somehow it didn**__**'**__**t become warm which was really strange so I looked at the moon that shone right into the open cave. Suddenly I heard somewhere in the distance my mom and dad calling my name. Quickly I stepped out the pool and walked back the way I came in. "Mommy, Daddy! I**__**'**__**m here!" I yelled back in response. **_

"_**Bella?!" I heard my dad'**__**s voice really near now and after a few seconds I saw my dad**__**'**__**s face above the cave entrance. "She**__**'**__**s here!" **_

_**My dad came down the hole which I had earlier, picking me up while my mom tried to grab my arms and pull me towards her. She hugged me tightly and my dad climbed back up.**_

"_**Honey**__**, how did you get in there?" my mom asked while the three of us walked back to the house.**_

"_**I'**__**m sorry, mommy. I was too busy with exploring that I didn't notice **__**where**__** I was going."  
"Well, stay closer to the house next time" my mom said and hugged me some more.**_

Emma closed the diary and thought about what she'd just had read. The cave the little girl described was just like the cave she had fallen into during her time in Ireland and where she had found this diary. Everything the girl wrote about, the pool, the water starting the bubble after the full moon shone on it. The same thing happened to Rikki, Cleo and her on Mako Island. The little girl's name was Bella. _Could it be the same Bella, who's now here at the Gold Coast? Cleo and Rikki's new friend? _ Emma thought looking at the small book.

After a few minutes Emma stood up, put the diary into one of her bags and walked out of her bedroom to go downstairs.

"I'm going out for a while" Emma said to her mom who was doing the laundry.

* * *

Cleo was just making herself some breakfast when suddenly someone knocked on the front door.

"Could you please open the door?" Cleo asked Kim, who was sitting in the living room watching TV.

"Nope" Kim replied while she kept looking at the TV. "I'm busy."

Cleo sighed in annoyance and went down the hallway to open the door herself.

"Hey, Emma" Cleo said as soon she had open the door and recognized her friend. "Haven't seen you in days."

"I know" Emma said looking at the floor. "And I'm really sorry about that. I needed some time to think about what has happened the last few days."

"I understand" Cleo said and smiled. "Please come in."

Emma smiled back and stepped into the hallway. "I'm really happy you're not angry at me" Emma said following Cleo into the living room. "I am really sorry about my behavior."

"It's fine" Cleo said placing her plate and cup into the sink. "I'll go upstairs to put some clothes on and then we can go to the Café to meet Rikki and Bella."

"Sure, no problem" Emma said and sat down in an armchair while waiting for Cleo. Kim stood up and also went upstairs, leaving the TV on. Emma noticed Cleo's cell phone laying on the coffee table and she listened if she could hear Cleo come back before she slowly grabbed the phone.

For a few seconds Emma hesitated about what she was planning to do. Then she slowly wrote a text message and pressed send. She heard Cleo walking down the stairs and quickly she placed the cell phone back on the coffee table.

"Ready?" Cleo asked, walking inside the living room while grabbing her bag from the dining table.

"Yep" Emma replied standing up and walking towards the front door. "Oh, no. I just remember I promised my mom to help her with some things" Emma said, turning around facing Cleo.

"O, Okay" Cleo said. "You know what? I'll go meet Rikki and Bella and then we will meet you later at the beach after you've helped your mom."

"Okay" Emma replied smiling, before opening the door and going outside.

* * *

POV Rikki

Bella walked into the already crowded café and towards the counter where I was busy helping some people with their order.

"Just take a seat and I will bring it to you in a few minutes" I said and the costumers walked away to find themselves a table.

"Hey" Bella said as soon as she was at the counter. "Looks like you're going to have it pretty busy today."

"Yeah, Zane is out to a business meeting and Sophie just called, she is going to be a bit late for her shift."

Bella heard her cell phone and took it out her pocket and saw she just received a text from Cleo.

"Can I get you something?" I asked making some smoothies for the previous costumers.

"No," Bella said putting her phone away. "Cleo just send me a text. She wants to meet with me at Mako."

"Okay" I replied walking with the drinks to one of the tables. "I will meet you there after my shift is finished."

"Okay" Bella replied and left the café.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Please review if you like to read the next chapter:D**


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